At least 10,000 of Florida's high school seniors have yet to pass the state's graduation test and will not be able to earn a standard diploma in time for graduation ceremonies.
The students are the first group who have to pass the state's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for graduation. They have had six chances to pass the exam, which is first administered in the 10th grade.
The students, now 12th-graders, will be able to participate in graduation ceremonies and could get a certificate of completion if they earn the necessary high school credits. But they won't be able to get the standard diploma needed for college admission.
Statewide, 61 percent of the 12th-graders failed the math portion of the test, and 75 percent failed the reading section. Failure rates generally are much lower, but the only students still taking the test in 12th grade are those who have failed repeatedly.
According to a law just passed by the Legislature, some special education students will be able to waive the FCAT requirement if school officials think the test does not give an accurate measure of their abilities. The law was an example of the kind of pressure the graduation test has placed on school officials and lawmakers.
The FCAT graduation requirement also resulted in a lawsuit out of Pinellas County, where the parents of a Largo teen sued to get copies of his FCAT test booklets and answer sheets.
Detailed results for the 12th-graders are expected to be released Monday. But the results for some districts arrived early.
In Hillsborough County, for instance, a 58 percent failure rate in math means that 348 teens fell short, and a 72 percent failure rate in reading was bad news for 619 teens, according to John Hilderbrand, director of testing for Hillsborough schools.
